Cornered
by Moksgmol
Summary: After months of planning, a group of dangerous and determined thieves have broken into the Jeffersonian. They're ready for anything.... except for maybe a certain forensic anthropologist. But Brennan's in plenty of danger herself trying to escape th
1. Chapter 1

Doctor Temperance Brennan was working late at the Jeffersonian - as usual, of course - when she heard it: a small shuffle, the scuff of a shoe along the floor.

She barely paused in her work, attributing the noise to the janitor, completely oblivious to the fact that most people have a Saturday night schedual that doesn't include staying late at your job.

It wasn't until she heard a louder thunk, followed by a sudden stillness that she really noticed, looking up from her computer screen with a frown.

'Hello?' Silence greeted her shout, 'Are you alright?'

Still quiet, and she felt a bubble of concern, waiting a moment before moving towards the door of her office.

Nothing in the hallway. Brennan gave another call before starting to move in the direction the sound had originated.

'Stop.'

She whirled around at the unfamiliar voice, freezing at the sight of a masked gunman.

His eyes, the only thing that she could clearly see due to his dark ski mask, were wild. The gun in his hand was held by trembling fingers.

'What are you doing here!'

Brennan held up her hands, placating, 'Working late.'

Another figure came around the corner, stopping short at the sight in front of him.

'What the hell is going on here!'

'She's fucking _working_ late; what do we do now?'

There was silence for a moment as the men sized Brennan up before the second man spoke.

'Find somewhere to put her; we've planned too hard to let one little hiccup screw it up.'

'Planned for what?' Brennan blurted, inadvertently drawing their attention back to her presence.

'You just shut up and get in that room, ' the second man jerked his chin towards the closed door behind her.

'The mens' washroom?' she questioned, standing her ground.

He simply glared at her until it became apparent that she wasn't going to move without a bit more persuasion.

And so he drew out his own gun, cocking back the hammer with his thumb.

'I've already told you once. Do I need to repeat myself or are you going to get your ass into that room?'

Brennan relented at the sight of the two guns and allowed the first man to direct her none too gently into the restroom.

_Okay, I know that it's a little short, but it's all that I have time for tonight; gotta head to bed because I start work at four tomorrow morning. Most of the next chapter is written, so hopefully I'll have that up in the next day or so (no promises though, as it's crunch time at school, haha) Hope you liked it, and thanks in advance for any reviews!_

_Ciao, Moksgmol_


	2. Chapter 2

The first thing Brennan did was check her pockets for her cell phone, even though she knew exactly where it was - top left drawer of her desk, and nowhere near where she was now.

The next thing was to shoot a glance around the room, considering and casting aside windows (impossible - too secure, seeing as this was the ground floor), vents (she'd never fit), and a small door by the sinks that only contained extra washroom supplies.

The last thing her mind flashed to was whatever the intruders were doing - clearly nothing good, and there was no way that she was letting them anywhere near her lab or the bones, never mind the fact that they'd told her to stay put. Those remains had been through enough already and it was her duty to protect them from any more harm.

But there truly was no way out of this room.

And so she reached over and pulled the fire alarm.

-

It took less than a minute - in which she had time to duck into the small janitors' closet, scrambling in the dark for a weapon - for the sound of the bathroom door being unlocked to reach her ears. She crouched in the darkness, listening to her own breath, muscles tensing and trembling as she waited for them to find her.

_BAM!_

She jumped, suppressing a gasp.

_BAM!_

That one was closer; they were throwing open bathroom doors, expecting her to be hiding behind one.

_BAM!_

Just three more left.

_BAM!_

Two.

_BAM!_

Last one.

There was a ringing silence after the final door had been slammed open, followed by a skidding sound as the garbage can was inspected before being tossed aside.

Another pause, and she knew they'd seen the door; she'd placed the garbage can near the entrance to her hiding spot after she had closed over all the stall doors.

The door handle suddenly turned and light flooded into her little hiding spot. She saw the man who'd opened the door reaching for his gun and she raised her own arm, spraying his eyes with the chemical cleaner she'd found.

He gave a yell and she was able to shove past him, only to barrel right into the second man, who grabbed her arm in a vice grip. She shifted to try and elbow him but he wrenched her arm painfully, throwing her off balance.

'I don't think so,' and he ripped the spray bottle from her hands before chucking it across the room.

But she doesn't panic or stop, remaining sure in her ability to take on the man.

And so she brings up her knee between his legs, only to have him twist her around, her arm bending painfully behind her back, before he shoves her onto the floor.

Okay, so maybe she can't quite take him, but that doesn't mean she's going to stop trying to kick his ass.

She pushes up onto all fours, arms and legs scrabbling for purchase on the tile and is just about to push off the floor when the first man she'd attacked, tears streaming down his face, throws himself bodily into her, sending them both sprawling. The breath is knocked out of her and so the man has no trouble flipping her onto her back and sitting down, _hard_, on her chest. And she didn't think it was possible but even more air is forced out of her lungs and it's all she can do for a moment to try and pull air into her compressed lungs.

As she struggled the man sitting on her laughed and settled back a little deeper, some of his weight abandoning her chest to crush her lower ribs and abdomen. He gave another chuckle before spitting in her face.

She flinched, bouncing the back of her head off the cold floor, and he grinned, 'Not so fun when it's in your own eyes is it?'

'Pick her up,' the other man barked from somewhere above them.

Brennan tried to make a move as soon as the man lifted his weight off of her but her oxygen-deprived body refused to respond and she only managed the beginnings of an uncoordinated attempt at movement before he hauled her up by an arm.

The room spun dizzily and she stumbled as the man moved behind her, holding her wrists together behind her back. The lead man, who had been standing back until this point, came forward and grabbed her chin, forcing her face up to his own.

'Now, did we not tell you to be good? Did we not give you enough warning?' he voice changed to a low, dangerous growl, 'And I think you know what has to happen now.'

Brennan managed to rally her scattered thoughts to retort, 'It doesn't matter, someone will come because of the alarm, and then they'll have you.'

'I don't think so... and I'm not so sure that they'll have you either... alive that is.' he grinned at her, and she glared back.

'That was not a very good joke. Trust me, Booth would not approve,' she stated in a matter of fact way, her brain trying to piece itself back together.

'What?'

'I think she's trying to pull a fast one on us; you know, pull the wool over our eyes.'

'I think it's cotton, it's definitely pull the cotton over your eyes.'

The two men gave her a bewildered look.

'Guess we hit her on the head pretty hard, huh?' came from the second man.

'I don't really care. And we don't have the time for this,' was the response, 'I'm ending this now.'

Brennan forced herself to hold the man's gaze with her own defiant look as he raised his gun and fired.

_And that's all for now folks. Sorry that it's not the best ending (or probably the best use of proper tense, because I am waaaaay tired. promise that I'll give it a better proof after some sleep), and that it took so long (dang end of the semester papers and tests and those dreaded quickly-approaching final exams) Hope that you enjoyed it, and reviews are, as always, welcome and adored!_

_Ciao, Moksgmol_


	3. Chapter 3

The pain was sudden and sharp, burning in her stomach. The air in her lungs left in a slow exhale as she sank to the ground, the fight leaking out of her and pooling in a red puddle on the floor.

'Now are you going to stay the fuck out of our way?'

The voice was echoing and far away, as though she was almost asleep, and though she wanted to do nothing more than that she tilted her head back until she saw shoes and spat. She was displease with her poor aim, but even more upset with the pink tinge her saliva now had.

There was a curse and then something cold and metal hit her in the temple. She was suddenly on her back, the lights on the bathroom ceiling spinning dizzily above her before everything faded to black.

--

Booth had been at home, making dinner, when the police scanner whooped. He didn't pay it much attention until he heard the Jeffersonian mentioned, but then he paused in what he was doing and turned up the scanner, listening intently.

'Requesting more police presence; we've had at least one shot fired.'

Booth dropped the knife he'd been holding in his mad race for the door.

--

Brennan woke up to a massive headache and blood in her mouth. She slowly turned her head to the side, trying not to increase the pounding, and spat the coppery taste out until her mouth was dry. She then wiggled her toes and worked her way up, stopping with a gasp when she reached her stomach. Her fingers prodded the area, breaths shaking and tears of pain pricking at the corners of her eyes. She found the source of blood and felt a wave of nausea at the torn skin between her fingers.

She rolled onto her side, temple and ribs throbbing steadily beneath the pain she felt in her stomach, and she curled her knees up to her chest while she waited for her senses to realign. Once the agony had dulled to a reasonable level she opened her eyes, taking stock of the room around her.

She was still in the bathroom, and now she was thankfully alone. She slowly rolled onto her front, bringing her hands and knees underneath her, shakily pushing herself up. She slipped in the pool of blood that she was in, landing awkwardly on her elbow and pausing to catch her breath before pushing herself further up and making it halfway this time. She reached a steadying hand out to the wall, realizing that she wasn't going to be able to stand up and walk to the door. Instead she returned her hands to the wet, bloody tile and crawled until she reached the door. She was then able to reach up and use the handle on the door to pull herself up onto her feet.

The tears were ready to run down her cheeks but she held them back, trying to stop the tightening feeling in her chest that was a result of the tears. She leaned herself up against the wall beside the door, using her hand to twist open the handle. Holding open the door as she made her way through it almost defeated her, but soon she was out of the bathroom and resting up against the other side of the wall.

After catching her breath she checked to see that the hallway was empty before heading towards her lab. There was no way she could leave just yet: she had to make sure that her bones were alright.

--

Booth swung his suv into the parking lot in front of the Jeffersonian, abandoning it haphazardly. He ran up to the police tape and flashing lights that were in front of the entrance, flashing his badge when an officer moved to intercept him.

'FBI! What's going on here? Now!'

'Not sure yet; we don't know if anyone's working late and we haven't had any contact with anyone inside. The fire alarm was pulled and the firemen showed up, but as they were about to enter they heard gunshots. So we were called and we've just secured the area.'

'And what are we doing now!?' Booth barely contained a shout, opting to give the officer a low, dangerous growl instead.

'We're sending calls out to all the employees, but-'

'Not good enough, I can tell you if she's there right now.' And Booth had his cell phone in hand, Brennan's number being typed out by his thumb, even though he knew that she wouldn't answer.

--

Brennan jumped at the sudden noise, stopping her slow trek and pausing to catch her breath when she realized it was only her cell phone. Her heart rate picked up again though when she heard another person's shout.

Her heart stopped entirely when a masked man raced around the corner, attracted by the ringing of her phone.

_That's all for now. Sorry it's so late... I've been swamped with school. Finished with my chem final though! Hopefully I passed, haha. Anywho hope that you enjoyed!  
Ciao, Moksgmol _


	4. Chapter 4

Brennan and the man stared at each other for a moment, both shocked at the sight of the other.

He snapped out of his stupor before she could rally her pain-clouded thoughts and leapt at her with a growl. She backed up instinctively, her uncoordinated limbs tangling and causing her to trip, landing hard on her back on the tile.

She had a moment to ponder on the fact that the ceiling outside of the bathroom was rather a nicer piece of architecture than the one inside before the man landed on top of her and she blacked out, the incessant ringing of her phone the last sound she heard.

--

'Pick up, pick up, pick up!' Booth let out a frustrated sound, knowing that she wouldn't but not wanting to admit it.

He waited a moment longer before violently flipping the phone shut and jamming it into his pocket so hard the stitches would have ripped had his pants been any less expensive.

'Okay,' and he paused a moment for a heaving attempt at a calming breath, 'somebody go and get me a bulletproof vest. And then we're getting a team together and we're going in there now.'

The officers dispersed at his words, racing to prepare.

--

It was the longest five minutes of Booth's life, but he eventually found himself with his back against the wall beside the glass entrance to the Jeffersonian, signaling his men to break in the door.

He was in before the battering ram pulled fully back, gun up and eyes scanning even before the shattered glass finished scattering onto the floor.

He waited impatiently for the police to secure the lower levels and main floors, knowing without a doubt that she would be upstairs; she was always above the main floor when she stayed late. He liked to pretend that she was waiting where he would first look for her, but in truth he knew that she was creeped out by her own private limbo. His lips almost rose in a smile as he realized that she would not only insist that he call it modular skeleton storage, she would also be confused as to exactly what the 'creeps' were.

He snapped himself out of his thoughts when an officer approached to inform him that they were ready to move in.

--

The man had expected more fight out of Brennan, and had pounded his fist into her face before he realized she was already unconscious. He leaned back then, breathing heavily, waiting for the after-affects of the adrenalin surge to wane. He shifted a little, moving his weight off of her chest and onto her stomach, surveying the room; he wanted to put her out of the way and finish this. They had planned to have been done already, and his strained nerves were well past the breaking point.

Before he had found a suitable solution, though, there was a shout of 'police!,' the door slammed open, and he found himself face-to-face with one very, _very_ pissed off FBI agent.

_Okay, short, I know, and long overdue, but I have two days a week set aside for writing now, so I plan on updating much more regularly. Hope that you enjoyed this and I'll have another chapter up hopefully by the weekend._

_Ciao, Moksgmol _


	5. Chapter 5

'Get your hands off of her!' Booth cried, gun in front of him, eyes burning with rage.

The masked man raised his hands, eyes torn between fear and confusion at the agent's arrival.

'Get up and move to the side slowly. And then I want you on the floor with your hands on the back of your head!'

The man complied, and Booth found himself watching the man complying out of the corner of his eye, devoting most of his attention to looking for any signs of life from Brennan's body. Once the man was safely on the floor he stepped forward and made sure the man was unarmed.

As he checked the man's coat he leaned forward and said in a heated whisper, 'If she isn't okay, I swear to you that you'll wish you were never born,' and then he stood up, turning back to his team, 'Alright; get the rest of this place swept. And get some paramedics in here asap!'

Duties sufficiently allocated for the moment, he raced towards his fallen partner. He tried to ignore the blood that seemed to be everywhere and searched instead for her beating heart and breathing chest. He sighed in relief when he felt her life beneath him, and was trying to find the source of blood when he heard the click of a gun being cocked.

He looked back to see another man, eyes frantic behind his mask, the gun in his hand making trembling sweeps of the room.

'Nobody move! I ain't afraid of using this!'

Silence greeted his words. Had Booth not been so close to Brennan and afraid of compromising her safety he would have already been acting. As it was, he stayed as still as possible, only shifting a little to try and conceal Bones' motionless form.

'Now, you're gonna give me what I want, and then I'm gonna walk away from this, no problem, past all your men... or else there _will_ be some problems.'

More silence, until one of the officers broke the tension, 'And what, exactly, is it that you want?'

The gun turned towards the voice, but the officer held his ground. 'I tell you what; how about we just stick to good old money, hey? Plain and simple: you get me five million bills - mixed serial numbers please - and I'll get out of your way. Sound like a plan?'

The officer growled at him, feeling a little braver due to the fact that he hadn't yet been shot, 'And where do you propose that I get this money from?'

The gun stayed steady on the agent, but the gunman was starting to lose his cool, 'You're going to get on that damn radio of your and let your men outside know my demand. Then they're going to answer with a 'yes, sir, right away,' I'm going to get my money, and then I'm getting outta here.'

'How much of an idiot are you? You don't seriously think that you'll make it out of here with that kind of plan, do you?'

The man's eyes narrowed and his gun arm stiffened, 'Are you seriously insulting me? Because I seem to be holding you at the barrel of my gun, not the other way around... and I know that you'd prefer the latter.'

Booth could feel his muscles tensing as the conversation escalated; he wanted to shut the officer, to be the one making the stand, but he couldn't move or speak quickly enough to not be noticed. That and Brennan's safety was still paramount in his mind. Booth was so focused on the situation in front of him that he missed the movement underneath him until he felt something cold and hard press into his leg. After nearly jumping out of his skin in surprise he glanced down to see a gun had been pushed up against his leg by a small, bloody hand.

He looked up sharply and met Brennan's half-opened eyes. She seemed to be trying to gather breath to speak and he reached out to cover her mouth, quickly preventing her from catching any attention. After indicating she should be silent by pressing his finger to his own lips and receiving a nod - well, her feeble attempt at a nod - he picked up the weapon and aimed it.

The invader was yelling now, 'Fuck you! I'm sure that someone else will get me the fucking money you fool!'

And two deafening gunshots echoed through the room.

_Okay, hope that was enjoyed! I know that it was kind of cliffish (okay, really cliffish, but I'm sure that I'm not that unpredictable), but please bear with me! I just have a ton of things that I'm trying to update and publish; I've been doing a lot of writing(during class while my profs aren't looking, haha), but I haven't had a lot of time to type/proof/post. More Brennan and Booth to come next chapter; promise!_

_Your reviews are amazing!_

_Ciao for now, Moksgmol_


	6. Chapter 6

There was a silence following the gunshots that seemed just as loud as the echoing bangs had been. There even seemed to be a pause in motion, until the masked man who had been holding the room hostage collapsed bonelessly to the floor.

This seemed to trigger everyone else into movement: the police officer who had been pointing his gun at the suspect dropped his weapon and grabbed his arm with a yell; the closest man to him ran to his aid; the other perpetrator was handcuffed.

Booth saw nothing of this past the first man falling to the ground. He didn't need to know anything else apart from the fact that the gunman was dead. Booth had managed to shoot him, though not before he had gotten of a shot another officer, and as soon as he was sure of his aim all of Seeley's attention was directed to Brennan.

Her eyes were still open, though barely, and he gently touched her shoulder, trying for her attention.

'Bones. Look at me, okay?'

Her head just lolled a little farther to the side, 'Bones! C'mon, open up those eyes, I need to talk to you for a minute. Bones!'

He raised his voice until he was shouting her name, crying her name, and she rewarded those efforts by lifting her eyelids ever so slightly.

'That's it; you're gonna be just fine Bones. We're going to take you to the hospital and I'm not taking 'no' for an answer!'

She didn't yet have the energy to speak and so she let him babble on and try to find any of her injuries on his own. Everything was beginning to blur and she wasn't sure that she would have been able to figure out where they were anymore anyways.

She was wrong about that though; the second Booth's hands brushed along her stomach in their quest for any wounds she gasped at the horrible sensation. Black dots danced in her vision and she took great heaving gulps of air, trying to hold back tears and ignoring his concerned questions.

After what seemed like eternity the pain began to fade and she could feel his hand smoothing her hair. She tried to catch his eyes with her own but he wasn't looking at her anymore; he was looking over his shoulder at a group of approaching paramedics.

There was a flurry of activity as they knelt around her and someone's hand pressed where Booth's had been. The spike of agony was just as sharp and she found it harder to refocus this time. They were shoutingand shining lights and everything was becoming fuzzy again. She was sure that nobody would mind if she slept a bit but first she had to find... ah, there he was. Her eyes found his again and she tried to say his name. She felt her lips move ever so slightly but knew that there hadn't been any sound. He seemed to understand anyways and shot her the best smile he could, reaching out past all of the commotion to touch her cheek.

The feeling of his fingers along her skin were the last things she could remember before she faded out again.

--

Booth watched her shut her eyes, praying that he would see them open again. He stepped back as the paramedics lifted her onto a stretcher; he felt strangely useless now that they were here. Though he badly wanted to ride in the ambulance with her he knew that it would be more useful to have his car at the hospital. That and he knew that there some squints he needed to pick up on the way there.

Heedless of his bloody clothing and the uniformed man who shouted that he had to remain at the scene he leapt into his car, pulling out his cell phone as he sped off.

_Hope that you liked it! There should only be a couple more chapters after this, but don't worry; I have plans for another _Bones_story that I'm even more excited about than this one. I'll be sure to post the first chapter of it when I post the last chapter of this one. My sincerest thanks to everyone who has reviewed this story or put it as a favourite (or even put an alert on it!). The support is both overwhelming and heartwarming! _

_Ciao for now, Moksgmol_


	7. Chapter 7

Brennan didn't bubble up slowly into awareness; she did quite the opposite. Her eyes snapped open to see a roof that looked remarkably similar to the one she had stared at in the Jeffersonian, and at first she thought that she had imagined Booth rescuing her. Her heart began to pound and she sat up in panic, letting out an involuntary cry of pain as she did so. One hand flew to her stomach, the other to the bed to brace her upper body, and the feeling of soft linens under her fingers were what tipped her off.

She was in a hospital. She was safe.

And if that wasn't enough, Angela Montenegro bursting into the room and shouting out joyfully sure was.

'Oh, Sweetie! You're awake! I've been so worried!' she rushed forward, stopping herself just shy of giving Brennan a bone-crushing hug.

Which was good, as Brennan was already feeling fairly crushed. She was suddenly overwhelmed by how weak she was now that the adrenalin leaking out of her system, and she slid back down into the pillows as her supporting arm started to tremble.

Angela gave her a concerned look, 'How are you feeling? You're awfully pale.'

'W-what happened exactly?' she managed to get out, the pain in her stomach beginning to increase.

'You were shot, Bones, that's what happened.'

She looked to the doorway to see an exhausted Booth there, carrying two cups of steaming coffee.

'For me?' she shakily asked.

'Nope,' and he handed one to Angela, who accepted it gratefully, 'I don't think that you get much else than pudding. But trust me, there's no problem with that.'

'Oh,' she choked out, and she was going to say more, but the sharp ache radiating out from her stomach was heading towards being unbearable. She opted to simply lay there, trying to keep her breaths from becoming pants.

'You okay?' Angela frowned at her, brushing sweaty hair back off of her face. Brennan, who had clenched her jaw, nodded in response.

'No she isn't,' Booth said, leaning out into the hallway and calling for a nurse.

An older lady bustled in, giving Brennan a cursory glance before adjusting various drips and machines. She then pulled the covers down and lifted the bottom of Brennan's hospital gown.

She tutted, 'What have you been doing, dearie, dancing? The doctor is going to have to redo some of these stitches!'

Booth shot Brennan a look and Angela supplied the nurse with an answer, 'she was sitting up when I got in; it looked as though she'd just woken up.'

'Start awake?' at Temperance's nod she continued, 'Well, we'll leave it for now but if you keep it up we'll be tying you to that bed!'

Brennan wanted to glare but she couldn't find the strength. The hurt was mercifully fading but her consciousness seemed to be as well.

Booth reached out to stroke her hair and Angela took one of her hands.

'It's alright Bones; we'll be here when you wake up.

--

Once she had fallen asleep the nurse led her bedside partners out of the room.

'Try to keep a familiar face with her as much as possible for now for when she wakes up; we don't want her tearing any more of those stitches. Now that she's woken up once and you two can focus on things a little better I'll send the doctor up to talk with you; he'll have to have a look at her wound anyways.'

They nodded, reentering the hospital room and settling back into chairs by her side while they waited. The doctor, a short and balding man, arrived within the first few minutes of their vigil.

'Hello you two; now just let me have a look at her and then we'll step outside for a quick word.'

He worked efficiently, cleaning and redressing Brennan's stomach with practiced ease, but Booth was glad that she was asleep and sedated; it didn't look like an especially comfortable process. Once the man had finished he led them outside.

'Well, everything is as well as one could expect at this point. She should try to keep as still as possible, though; those abdominal muscles will take quite a while to fully heal, and she'll be sore long after, so the more relaxed she stays here the better it will be. She'll be in physiotherapy once she leaves here as well so that will certainly help. She'll make a full recovery as long as an infection doesn't set in, but she'll always have a scar there. Any questions?'

The two shook their heads and thanked the doctor, heading back into Brennan's room to await her next awakening.

_ Hope that you all enjoyed this update; another one up soon! Your reviews have been, as always, very kind and are always looked forward to!_

_More are, of course, very welcome! -Moksgmol_


	8. Chapter 8

Booth was stroking Brennan's hair when she woke up next, her eyes squeezing tightly before opening.

'Hey,' he said softly, his voice a comforting rumble.

She looked up at him rather than respond for a moment, just taking in his presence and the feeling of safety that accompanied it.

'How are you feeling?'

She nodded in response, avoiding the question, 'Where's Ange?'

Booth shifted a little and Brennan could see the artist. She was curled up in an uncomfortable-looking hospital chair, and Temperance was sure that she would be stiff when she awoke.

'How long has she been asleep?'

'Not long; want me to wake her?'

Brennan shook her head, 'She needs the rest.'

Booth nodded in agreement, continuing to run his fingers over her head. Brennan closed her eyes, savoring the feeling of his hands smoothing her hair.

'So apart from me getting shot, what happened?' she repeated her earlier question in a murmur, her eyes still shut.

'Some punks broke into the Jeffersonian; we're not entirely sure what they were after, but we'll know when we've finished questioning the surviving one. He hasn't said much yet; he's being held at the FBI headquarters.'

'What about the other one?'

Booth was silent for a pause, 'He's dead Bones… he shot a police officer. The officer will be okay; just a graze along the arm. He's already out of the hospital. And he shot you Bones.'

'Oh,' she breathed, opening her eyes to meet his own gaze, 'Are you okay?'

He gave her a little grin, 'Right as rain Bones.'

She frowned at him, not quite catching the cliché but knowing that he was lying.

'You shot him Booth.'

The statement wiped the grin off of his face.

'You shot him because he was aiming at another officer; you're very protective of your people Booth. And I gave you the gun,' she pressed, giving him a weak smile that didn't reach her eyes. She noticed the hand that wasn't running over her head had clenched into a fist and that there was strange glimmer in his eyes.

'I shot him because the bastard shot you Bones.'

She nodded slowly at the steel in his voice, reaching out a hand to place over his own clenched one.

They stayed like that for what seemed like quite a while, the only sound that broke their silence the steady rhythm of Angela's breathing. Brennan eventually removed her hand from his and gave a tug on his sleeve. In silent understanding he removed his shoes and climbed into the bed beside her. It was cramped and he was careful to move as little as possible, instead letting her position her body around him. They settled gently into sleep, her head on his chest and her arm across his middle.

--

When Zack and Hodgins came by later to visit a call from Cam stopped them before they could open the door.

'They're sleeping.'

Zack turned towards her, 'They?'

Cam smiled at them, 'Have a look, but be quiet.'

Hodgins gingerly pushed open the door, Zack peering over his shoulder. The sight that met their eyes was soft and peaceful: Booth and Brennan were partly intertwined on the small hospital bed and breathing in unison. Hodgins smiled at the sight of Angela curled up at their friend's bedside in a chair. He moved forwards, leaving Zack standing in the doorway, and grabbed a pillow from the closet. After taking a second to enjoy the sight of Angela sleeping he tucked it under her head to save her from the crick she had been working on. He then headed back towards the door and Zack, who was waiting for him.

'Come on, Zacko, I'll buy you and the lovely Ms. Saroyan here a coffee from downstairs.'

Zack frowned and gave him an 'alright' in response; Cam just shot a knowing smile at his back as they headed for the elevator.

_There you are; another chapter. Sorry that it took so long; I've been very busy between work and school. Thank you for all of your support though! Your reviews are wonderful and I, as always, welcome more._

_Take care, Moksgmol_

_PS And thanks to tails123 for asking about my chem final. It defs could have gone better, but it has nothing to do with my anthropology major, so I'm trying (and not succeeding, haha), to pretend that it doesn't bother me. Ciao :)_


	9. Chapter 9

Angela woke to find Brennan watching her, and she leapt out of the chair she'd been dozing in, racing over towards her friend with a shriek.

'Shh Ange! He's sleeping!' had been the wide-eyed response.

But Angela didn't really care if Booth was having a nap, because she was going to damn well give her best friend a hug anyways!

'Oh, sweetie, I'm so glad that you're alright!' Angela gushed into Temperance's shoulder as she held her tightly, 'We were so worried!'

'I know,' Brennan replied, patting her friend a little on the back as though unsure of how to respond, 'Booth told me.'

Angela pulled back with a little scoff directed towards herself, wiping tears from her eyes and smiling down at her slightly confused best friend.

They were interrupted by a knock at the door before it opened, the rest of the squints stepping into the room.

'Dr Brennan! It's good to see that you're doing well.' Zack started with a bit of a smile.

Cam gave a hum of agreement, 'It is. And I'd like you to know that the department is willing to give you as much time as you need to take to recover. Though somehow I have my doubts that you'll be away for very long.' She finished this with a knowing smile, and to Temperance's credit she did look the tiniest bit shamefaced.

Hodgins gave Brennan a cursory hello before turning to Angela, 'How's your neck? I figured that you'd have one hell of a crick the way you were bending it in that chair.'

'A little stiff; thanks for the pillow,' she grinned and he returned the gesture.

'You want a coffee or anything?'

Angela shot a look at Brennan, giving her friend a smile, 'That'd be good; you're okay with that, right sweetie?'

Brennan frowned, 'Why wouldn't I be?'

'I know that you don't like hospitals.'

'Booth is here.'

Angela's eyebrows shot up in surprise, followed quickly by Cam's.

A flush spread across Temperance's cheeks, 'I mean that he's asleep; he won't be going anywhere for a while and it would be rude of me to wake him!'

Cam smirked as Angela replied, 'Sure, Sweetie; I'll come back up in a bit to check on you.'

'And _we_ had best be getting back to the lab ourselves,' Cam said, shooting Zack a look.

He missed the significance of her gaze though, 'But Dr Saroyan, we've already-'

'Dr Addie! We have some things to finish up, I assure you,' Cam cut him off, 'We'll come back to visit Dr Brennan again tomorrow when she's a little more rested. And make sure that you do rest, Dr Brennan.'

Zack let this slide without any more argument and followed his boss out of the room, giving Brennan a quiet farewell as they left.

Brennan sat in the silence for a while, just enjoying the sound of Booth's slow breathing. After some time she was beginning to lull off into sleep again when Booth stirred, slowly waking up.

He opened sleepy eyes and gave her a smile, 'Nobody come by yet?'

'Oh, they all left quite a while ago.'

'What? And you didn't wake me up?'

'You needed to catch up on sleep, Booth!'

He bit back a sharp retort, 'Well, at least tell me that I didn't look appalling.'

'You never look appalling.'

This cut off his next response and he just stared at her a moment, mouth slightly ajar.

She just smiled back at him, eyes sparkling.

After a moment she laid back down onto the bed, reaching up to pull him down beside her again, 'Come on, let's get some more sleep.'

He complied, shifting so that his head was beside hers on the pillow.

'I'm glad that you're alright; you really kicked some ass back there, Bones,' he said softly, tucking some of her stray hair behind an ear.

'Thank you for saving me; I wouldn't have made it out of there without you. But if I had had a gun-'

He leaned forward ever so slightly to place a kiss on her lips, effectively stifling the end of her sentence.

'Will you shut up about the gun thing? I'll talk to the Bureau about it on Monday. Now get some sleep.'

And with one last gentle kiss to her forehead he put his head back on the pillow they were sharing.

She stayed in place for a moment, staring down at her partner in surprise.

'Booth?'

'I said sleep, Bones.'

She huffed out a sigh before complying, watching him across their pillow until she drifted into sleep.

_The End._

_Well, there you have it. I know the wait was long but things have been crazy busy for me over the past little while. I do have another _Bones_ story planned but it's not quite ready to post. Soon I hope! Thank you again for reviews that have been written for this story; they were all brilliant and very much appreciated! And of course, more are always welcome._

_Hope that you've enjoyed this, _

_Moksgmol_


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